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AustraliaRelief of Mafeking, 16th May 1900 (AD)Mint: not recordedOther Details: Medal issued to commemorate the Relief of Mafeking during the Transvaal War. Mafikeng is the capital of the North West administrative province (formerly British Bechuanaland), South Africa, 870 miles north-east of Cape Town It is built on the open veldt by the banks of the Upper Molopo. Mafikeng was originally the headquarters of the Barolong tribe of Bechuana. In the 1880s a Barolong chief granted land to British mercenaries, who founded a settlement named Mafikeng, a local Tswana word meaning 'place of stones' (later British settlers spelt the name as Mafeking). On the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War in 1899 Mafeking was laid siege by the Boers. The commander of the garrison was Colonel, later Lord, Baden-Powell, who defeated an attack by the Boers just before the arrival of British reinforcements. He used his practical scouting skills to great advantage during the seige, organising men into groups, using survival skills and rewarding successes. The siege and relief of the town after 217 days excited sympathy in England, and when it was relieved exuberant rejoicings, called mafficking, erupted in London on the news. Baden-Powell became a hero, and on his return to England founded the Scouting Movement.